USDA International Agricultural Research, Education & Fellowships

The United States has long treated agricultural knowledge as both a foreign policy tool and a humanitarian gift. For the complementary U.S. food aid program that ships commodities overseas, see Food for Peace (PL 480). For the grant administrative framework governing USDA international research awards, see USDA agricultural research grant framework. 7 U.S.C. §§ 3291–3295 authorizes USDA to partner with foreign governments, universities, and research centers to improve agricultural science worldwide — training foreign scientists in the U.S., sending American experts abroad, and funding joint research that benefits both American agriculture and global food security. Alongside these international programs, 7 U.S.C. §§ 3241 and 3243 establish education grant programs for Hispanic-serving institutions that prepare underrepresented students for careers in the agricultural sciences.

These programs reflect a dual mission: developing foreign markets for U.S. agricultural exports by helping trade partners build productive agricultural sectors, while simultaneously addressing global hunger and food insecurity as a matter of both humanitarian concern and American strategic interest.

Current Law (2026)

Legal Authority

• 7 U.S.C. § 3291 — International agricultural research, extension, and teaching (Secretary may partner with foreign governments and institutions; build international expertise in USDA staff; competitive grants for joint projects; Cochran and International Agricultural Education Fellowship Programs; arid-land research program; internships at FAS overseas offices)
• 7 U.S.C. § 3292 — Partnerships to build developing-country capacity (Secretary may fund programs linking U.S. land-grant colleges with developing-country agricultural institutions; three categories: 1862 institutions, 1890 HBCUs, and "other" colleges; partnerships must strengthen host country institutions)
• 7 U.S.C. § 3292a — U.S.-Mexico joint agricultural research (Secretary may fund research through the George E. Brown U.S.-Mexico Foundation; competitive grants; Mexico must provide matching funding)
• 7 U.S.C. § 3292b — Competitive international agricultural science and education grants (colleges and universities can compete for grants to strengthen U.S. agriculture's global competitiveness; research, extension, and teaching with international partners)
• 7 U.S.C. § 3293 — Cochran Fellowship Program (short-term fellowships for agricultural professionals from middle-income countries and emerging democracies; fellows study in U.S. or in their own region)
• 7 U.S.C. § 3295 — International Agricultural Education Fellowship Program (U.S. citizens receive fellowships to help developing countries build school-based agricultural education programs)
• 7 U.S.C. § 3241 — Hispanic-serving institution education grants ($40M/year competitive grants for HSIs in food and agricultural sciences; equity, institutional capacity, student recruitment/retention, and cooperative HSI initiatives)
• 7 U.S.C. § 3243 — Hispanic-Serving Agricultural Colleges and Universities (endowment fund in Treasury; 60% distributed by Hispanic student enrollment, 40% equally; $80K/institution/year appropriation; competitive capacity-building grants; research, extension, and training grants)

How It Works

The Cochran Fellowship Program

The Cochran Fellowship Program is one of USDA's most effective and least-known foreign policy tools. Named for Norris Cochran, it provides short-term fellowships — typically 2 to 12 weeks — to agricultural professionals from middle-income and emerging market countries. Fellows come to the United States to receive training in agricultural science, trade policy, food safety regulation, and agribusiness — then return home to apply what they learned.

This is market development as much as development assistance: countries with stronger food safety systems and more productive agricultural sectors become better trading partners and more reliable buyers of U.S. agricultural exports. A Vietnamese food safety official trained through Cochran on U.S. food safety standards is more likely to approve U.S. food imports than one who has never interacted with American agricultural systems.

International Agricultural Education Fellowship

The reverse flow from Cochran, the International Agricultural Education Fellowship Program sends U.S. citizens to developing countries to help build school-based agricultural education programs. The goal is institution-building at the curriculum level — not just teaching farmers better techniques, but helping foreign agricultural colleges and vocational schools develop the programs that will train the next generation of their country's agricultural workforce.

U.S.-Mexico Agricultural Research Partnership

Given the integration of North American agricultural supply chains, the George E. Brown U.S.-Mexico Foundation joint research program addresses bilateral problems that neither country can solve alone: Shared pests, diseases that migrate across the border (citrus greening, screwworm, New World screwworm), food safety issues in cross-border produce, and shared water and natural resource challenges. Mexico must provide matching funding, ensuring genuine partnership rather than one-way assistance.

Hispanic-Serving Institution Programs

Separate from the international programs but in the same chapter, §§ 3241 and 3243 address a domestic equity gap: Hispanic Americans are significantly underrepresented in food and agricultural science careers despite the large role Hispanic communities play in American agricultural labor and production.

The Hispanic-serving institution (HSI) competitive grant program under § 3241 provides up to $40 million per year to colleges and universities with substantial Hispanic enrollment to strengthen food and agricultural science education, recruit and retain underrepresented students from high school through doctoral programs, and support cooperative initiatives between institutions.

The Hispanic-Serving Agricultural Colleges and Universities (HSACU) endowment and grants program under § 3243 goes further — creating a permanent endowment fund in the Treasury whose income distributes automatically to qualifying institutions, supplemented by a $80,000 per-institution annual appropriation for operating funds and competitive grants for research, extension, and training.

Building USDA International Expertise

Section 3291 includes a provision that USDA itself often overlooks: the mandate to build international expertise among USDA staff. The Department is required to develop personnel with combined skills in agricultural science and international affairs — a recognition that USDA's effectiveness in the world depends on having people who understand both the technical agricultural issues and the diplomatic, cultural, and economic context of the countries they engage.

How It Affects You

If you're a student from a Hispanic-serving institution or HBCU pursuing agricultural science: The § 3241 grant program provides $40 million per year in competitive grants to Hispanic-serving institutions in food and agricultural sciences — funding scholarships, mentoring, summer research, and cooperative degree programs. Separately, § 3243's Hispanic-Serving Agricultural Colleges and Universities endowment distributes $80,000 per institution annually plus competitive capacity-building and research grants. To find what your institution receives, check USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) award database at nifa.usda.gov/grants. These funds are specifically designed to increase representation of Hispanic and other underrepresented students in agricultural research careers — they are not restricted to citizens only, and some institutions have used them to fund graduate fellowships.

If you work in agricultural export sales, trade policy, or international agribusiness: The Cochran Fellowship Program (§ 3293) trains agricultural professionals from middle-income countries in U.S. agricultural methods, institutions, and markets. Cochran alumni — government officials, cooperative managers, food processors, and extension specialists — are often among the most knowledgeable and pro-U.S. agricultural stakeholders in their countries. Building relationships with Cochran alumni before entering a foreign market is a practical market-entry strategy: these individuals understand U.S. products, pricing systems, and quality standards, and they often become key buyers, regulatory contacts, or distribution partners. USDA FAS maintains Cochran alumni networks through its overseas attaché offices; connecting with your country's FAS agricultural attaché is the starting point.

If you direct or develop a land-grant or university agricultural research program: Three distinct funding streams are available under this subchapter: (1) § 3291 competitive grants for joint research with foreign institutions (administered by FAS), (2) § 3292 partnership grants to link U.S. land-grant colleges with developing-country institutions in a capacity-building model (administered by NIFA), and (3) § 3292b competitive grants for international agricultural science and education that emphasize U.S. global competitiveness. These programs have different eligibility, matching, and reporting requirements. The § 3292a U.S.-Mexico Foundation grants specifically require Mexican government matching funding and address border-relevant topics: food safety, pests and disease, and shared natural resource management. If your institution has Mexico-facing programs, that matching requirement makes it a more competitive use of limited proposal resources.

If you work in international development, food security, or USAID-adjacent programs: USDA's international programs are the U.S. government's primary agricultural-development toolkit outside USAID's Food for Peace and development assistance channels. The § 3295 International Agricultural Education Fellowship sends U.S. citizens to developing countries to build school-based agricultural education — think Peace Corps but for structured agricultural curriculum. The Borlaug Fellowship (§ 3319j) brings developing-country scientists to U.S. research institutions for advanced training. These programs are generally more resilient to political transitions than USAID programs because they are grounded in agricultural trade relationships rather than pure development aid; the Cochran and Borlaug programs both survived prior USDA budget pressures. The Trump 2025 USAID freeze affected some USDA international programs implemented through USAID; USDA-FAS-administered programs were largely insulated.

State Variations

This is primarily federal law governing international programs. HSI grant programs are nationally competitive, but the endowment distributions under § 3243 go specifically to accredited Hispanic-serving agricultural colleges and universities — institutions that must meet both accreditation and enrollment criteria to qualify.

Pending Legislation

The 2025 Farm Bill (pending as of April 2026) is expected to reauthorize the HSI competitive grant program (authorized through FY2023) and address Cochran Fellowship funding levels. The Trump administration's DOGE-related FAS staffing reductions in 2025 raised questions about the operational capacity of international agricultural programs.

Recent Developments

USDA's international programs gained renewed attention during the 2022–2024 global food security crisis triggered by the Russia-Ukraine war, which disrupted grain exports from major producing countries and drove prices to multi-year highs. USDA FAS deployed international attachés and leveraged Cochran alumni networks to facilitate alternative supply chain arrangements and policy-level trade negotiations. The Center for North American Studies and U.S.-Mexico research partnerships also took on new relevance as near-shoring of agricultural supply chains — moving production closer to the U.S. market — accelerated.

• Trump USAID dismantlement cut USDA international research partnerships in 2025: many USDA international programs coordinated through USAID's Bureau for Resilience, Environment and Food Security were frozen or terminated; Cochran Fellowship Program exchanges and technical assistance agreements in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia were suspended pending program review.
• Trump tariffs disrupted agricultural export markets and research priorities: the 2025 tariff escalation with China, Canada, and Mexico — major markets for U.S. agricultural exports — reduced the near-term commercial value of joint research programs and shifted USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service toward trade dispute management rather than capacity building.
• OBBBA proposes cutting international food and agricultural assistance: the reconciliation bill includes reductions to USDA's McGovern-Dole International Food for Education program and Foreign Agricultural Service operations budgets, which would reduce the research and fellowship programs that support U.S. agricultural trade relationships and food security diplomacy.